Rome: An Empire's Story
Author(s): Greg Woolf (Author)
- Publisher: OUP Oxford
- Publication Date: 27 Jan. 2022
- Language: English
- Print length: 512 pages
- ISBN-10: 0192895176
- ISBN-13: 9780192895172
Book Description
The complete history of the Roman Empire - how it was created, how it was sustained in crisis, and how it shaped the world of its rulers and subjects, from the eighth century BCE to the dawn of the Middle Ages.
Rome in the archaic age was a minor satellite between the Etruscan and Greek world. This book traces the expansion of Roman influence first within Italy, then around the Mediterranean world and finally, at breakneck speed, deep into Europe, out to the Atlantic, along the edge of the Sahara and down the Red Sea. There had been other empires that had expanded rapidly; what made Rome remarkable was that it managed to sustain its position for so long. Rome's fall poses less of a mystery than its survival. Understanding this happened involves understanding the building blocks of imperial society - slavery, cities, the economy - and also the chaotic narrative of growth, civil war, stability, near disaster and then a managed downsizing.
Rome: An Empire's Story tells the tale of the great ancient city in chapters that alternate with examination of key features of Roman society.
This second edition has been fully revised and updated to take account of all the major new developments in the field since the publication of the first edition. Many of the chapters have been expanded, there is an expanded section on late antiquity, a new thematic chapter looking back from Constantinople to Rome, and a greater focus on material culture throughout.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Review from previous edition 'a magnificent achievement.' ― Peter Jones,BBC History Magazine
'A fine foundation for further learning about the Roman Empire.' ―
Booklist
'[A] passionately told exploration of the history of Rome.' ―
Publishers Weekly
'This is a marvellous book. Woolf provides a sweeping history of Rome's rise and fall, and asks the big questions of why and how this happened. Better yet, he offers no simple or simplistic answers, but instead well considered discussion of the evidence and how we try to understand it.' ―
Adrian Goldsworthy, author of How Rome Fell
'Greg Woolf's new history will be a boon for the student and general reader alike.' ―
The Scotsman
'Makes for exceptionally interesting and provocative reading.' ―
Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post
'Could [this] be the best single-volume introduction to the history of ancient Rome? It is conceptual yet avoids the pitfalls of overgeneralizing, a difficult balance to strike. It also has a superb (useful rather than exhaustive) bibliography. A good measure of books such as this is whether they induce you to read or order other books on the same topic and this one did. A sure thing to make my "Best Books of 2012" list.' ―
Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution
'Greg Woolf's dazzling account of ancient Rome's story will entrance the general reader ... [and] will equally impress historians ... the best general history of ancient Rome available in English.' ―
Ronald Mellor, Times Higher Education Supplement
'A remarkable work of synthesis that describes the rise, flourishing and decline of the Roman Empire.' ―
David Gress, Wall Street Journal
'It's a swift and easy read, filled with the kind of rich details designed to illustrate the major trends of Roman history for a general audience.' ―
Weekly Standard
About the Author
Greg Woolf is Director of the Institute of Classical Studies at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. Formerly Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews, he has held visiting appointments in France, Germany, Italy, and Brazil, and he has lectured widely around the world. He has published research on a wide range of topics in ancient history and Roman archaeology, including ancient literacy, European prehistory, the Roman economy, and ancient patronage. He maintains an interest in the comparative historical sociology of ancient empires. More recently he has been working on ancient science, in particularly ethnography, and on Roman religion, and he was awarded a Major Research Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust, for a project on the origins of religious pluralism. His previous publications include Et tu Brute? The murder of Caesar and political assassination (2006) and The Life and Death of Ancient Cities (2020).
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Rome: An Empire's Story
Author(s): Greg Woolf (Author)
- Publisher: OUP Oxford
- Publication Date: 17 May 2012
- Edition: First Edition
- Language: English
- Print length: 384 pages
- ISBN-10: 0199603081
- ISBN-13: 9780199603084
Book Description
The idea of empire was created in ancient Rome and even today the Roman empire offers a powerful image for thinking about imperialism. Traces of its monuments and literature can be found across Europe, the Near East, and North Africa - and sometimes even further afield.
This is the story of how this mammoth empire was created, how it was sustained in crisis, and how it shaped the world of its rulers and subjects - a story spanning a millennium and a half. Chapters that tell the story of the unfolding of Rome's empire alternate with discussions based on the most recent evidence into the conditions that made the Roman imperial achievement possible and also so durable, covering topics as diverse as ecology, slavery, and the cult paid to gods and men.
Rome was not the only ancient empire. Comparison with other imperial projects helps us see what it was that was so distinctive about ancient Rome. Ancient Rome has also often been an explicit model for other imperialisms.
Rome, An Empire's Story shows quite how different Roman imperialism was from modern imitations. The story that emerges outlines the advantages of Rome had over its neighbours at different periods - some planned, some quite accidental - and the stages by which Rome's rulers successively had to change the way they ruled to cope with the problems of growth.
As Greg Woolf demonstrates, nobody ever planned to create a state that would last more than a millennium and a half, yet the short term politics of alliances between successively wider groups created a structure of extraordinary stability. Rome's Empire was able, in the end, to survive barbarian migrations, economic collapse and even the conflicts between a series of world religions that had grown up within it, in the process generating an imagery and a myth of empire that is apparently indestructible.
Editorial Reviews
Review
It's a swift and easy read, filled with the kind of rich details designed to illustrate the major trends of Roman history for a general audience. (Weekly Standard)
Excellent ... for those with such an interest, Woolf's book will be a joy to read. (
Adrian Goldsworthy, The National Interest)
A fine foundation for further learning about the Roman Empire. (
Booklist)
[a] passionately told exploration of the history of Rome (
Publishers Weekly)
This is a marvellous book. Woolf provides a sweeping history of Rome's rise and fall, and asks the big questions of why and how this happened. Better yet, he offers no simple or simplistic answers, but instead well considered discussion of the evidence and how we try to understand it (
Adrian Goldsworthy, author of How Rome Fell)
Greg Woolf's new history will be a boon for the student and general reader alike. (
The Scotsman)
This is overall a magnificent achievement. (
Peter Jones, BBC History Magazine)
Makes for exceptionally interesting and provocative reading. (
Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post)
Could [this] be the best single-volume introduction to the history of ancient Rome? It is conceptual yet avoids the pitfalls of overgeneralizing, a difficult balance to strike. It also has a superb (useful rather than exhaustive) bibliography. A good measure of books such as this is whether they induce you to read or order other books on the same topic and this one did. A sure thing to make my "Best Books of 2012" list. (
Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution)
Greg Woolf's dazzling account of ancient Rome's story will entrance the general reader ... [and] will equally impress historians ... the best general history of ancient Rome available in English. (
Ronald Mellor, Times Higher Education Supplement)
a remarkable work of synthesis that describes the rise, flourishing and decline of the Roman Empire (
David Gress, Wall Street Journal)
About the Author
Greg Woolf is Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews. He has held visiting appointments in France, Germany, Italy and Brazil and has lectured widely around the world. He has published research on a wide range of topics in ancient history and Roman archaeology including ancient literacy, European prehistory, the Roman economy and ancient patronage. He maintains an interest in the comparative historical sociology of ancient empires. More recently he has been working on ancient science, in particularly ethnography, and on Roman religion. He currently holds a Major Research Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust for a project on the origins of religious pluralism.
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